AirUser 2008 96+4pp 24/7/08 11:31 Page 12
direction of the industry
It is also vital in this day and age that manufacturers offer Copco would welcome a more transparent standard,
a wide range of finance packages. These allow something along the lines of the white goods industry
customers who do not have funds to invest in the with a banded energy rating system, independently
immediate outright purchase of equipment to gain the assessed by a regulatory body.
benefits of reduced energy consumption, improved
reliability and air quality straight away whilst financing Q: What can the media do to help you?
the equipment from the savings. In many cases these A: There is some recent evidence to suggest that the
finance packages can also include the maintenance of media is fed up with what has been termed as
their equipment, so customers can be sure that their ‘Corporate Greenwash’ – the appearance of
equipment and compressed air network are always environmental responsibility without the change in
running in the optimum condition. The industry should behaviour. For the compressed air industry the media
be concentrating on total cost of ownership, rather than can help by continuing to publicise new innovations
just upfront cost. From my own experience I have seen and developments. There are still many compressed air
the use of finance packages grow exponentially and I users that could be saving a lot of energy, and money,
wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years time that 50% of with some investment in their air system. In terms of
all equipment sales are via the manufacturers own hard facts and figures a 30% saving in energy use is not
finance schemes. For the customer they offer ease and unusual these days and we have seen over 50%
flexibility as assets can be kept on the balance sheet, off savings in energy consumption achieved with the
the balance sheet or whatever suits their particular latest variable speed drive compressors, integrated
situation at the time. dryers and modifications to air networks to plug leaks.
With ever increasing electricity costs, which account
It is a strange anomaly that in manufacturing, where for approx 80% of the total ownership costs of an air
leasing is such an ingrained part of the equipment compressor, these savings are essential plus they
procurement model that, until now, compressed air contribute toward reducing the end user company’s
equipment hasn’t featured at all. Now though, where carbon footprint.
compressor technology takes great strides forward
every five years it is vital to maintain your competitive Q: What single influencing factor would you like to
advantage and keep operating costs at a minimum to change going forward?
take advantage of new technology when it enters the A: Again, I am going to have to point a finger at the
market. Leasing allows this and we will see it becoming Government and say that they are simply not doing
increasingly common. enough to help manufacturers achieve the potentially
huge energy savings that could be made. Rather than
Q: What do you think the Government/Trade punitive taxation I would like to see Government make
Associations can do to help you? the loans available to industry for investment in the
A: If 10% of all the energy used in manufacturing goes latest energy saving technology more widespread and
towards compressed air generation then I would like to easier to understand and apply for. The timescale of the
see the powers that be introduce a more uniform loan application process needs to be re-appraised as if
standard for testing and specifying the performance of a compressor needs replacing it must be done so as
compressed air equipment. ‘ISO1217’ is open to soon as possible. The fact that the loans cannot be
interpretation, a fact which confuses the end user. It applied for retrospectively inhibits their use and is
allows manufacturers and distributors alike to ‘play’ with particularly unhelpful for smaller manufacturers, the
the numbers and because the poor end user finds owners of the oldest, least efficient equipment, and the
themselves comparing eggs with bananas they cannot target for where the largest energy savings can be
make an informed decision. made.
I would like to see a system that gives clear
unambiguous data that can help customers select the
right product for their application. Indeed, we at Atlas
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